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Saturday 7th November: Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) v Edinburgh Capitals (6th) @ Hull Arena, F/O 5.30pm Sunday 8th November: Coventry Blaze (4th) v Excel Hull Stingrays (8th) @ Coventry Skydome Arena, F/O 6pm Form
Stingrays: L L L L L
Edinburgh: W W L L W
Coventry: L W L W L
Last 3 Meetings
v Edinburgh
19/09/09 2-9 L H
03/10/09 4-1 W H
25/10/09 3-2 L A
v Coventry
20/09/09 4-2 L A
17/10/09 5-4 L A
24/10/09 5-3 L A
Season Series
v Coventry: 0-3, 0 points, 9 GF, 14 GA
v Edinburgh: 1-2, 2 points, 8 GF, 13 GA
Players to Watch
Stingrays: Lee Mitchell (First Appearance) The British forward, ruled out of the first two months of the season thanks to a knee injury, will make his long awaited return to action this weekend. After pushing himself to the brink of the Great Britain squad at the beginning of last season, he went on to record 30 points in 53 games. This weekend he will make his first appearance of the season alongside his younger brother Craig, who has so far notched up two assists in 15 games from the Stingrays blueline.
Edinburgh: Jeff Hutchins (6 GP 3+5 17 PIM) Released by Sheffield after a start that saw the South Yorkshire outfit plummet to second bottom, Hutchins was picked up to return to Scotland with the Capitals. Naturally, the Canadian made his debut against his former side and notched up two assists, he went on to score two goals against them three days later. His arrival has coincided with the Capitals rise in form as he has scored eight points in six games which the Scottish side have claimed six point.
Coventry: Jonathan Weaver (17 GP 4+14 10 PIM) The GB defenceman was recently handed a brand new three year contract with the Blaze as he continues to be the lynch pin of the Blaze blueline. He began the season in brilliant offensive form, with 17 points in ten games, however in the last seven games he has no points, and while the majority of the Blaze squad is contributing, he will once again have to pick it up if they are to challenge for the title.
Between the Pipes
Stingrays: Tommy Sandahl (17 GP, 89.9 sv%, 4.19 GAA) After a positive start to the season the Swede's form has recently come under fire from coach Sylvain Cloutier after Sandahl allowed six goals from 32 Cardiff shots last weekend. The Stingrays keeper has allowed a league high 67 goals, but taking into account the league high 665 shots a night he has faced and the Rays leaky defence, his performances have, by no means, been the most concerning.
Edinburgh: Cody Rudkowski (14 GP, 90.2 sv%, 3.53 GAA) Rudkowski's performances between the Capitals pipes have been increasingly impressive in recent weeks as Edinburgh's fortunes have improved three fold. A huge part of those improved fortunes has been the solid play of Rudkowski who, a night after allowing just four goals from 60 shots, backstopped the Caps to a win over the Nottingham Panthers
Coventry: Peter Hirsch (16 GP, 92.1 sv%, 2.67 GAA) Hirsch sits second in the league behind Stephen Murphy in both save percentage and goals against average. The Danish international has been a marked improvement over J F Perras from last season and has let in just two goals in five consecutive games to give the Blaze a chance to win every night.
Absentees
Stingrays: James Hutchinson (broken arm), Pavel Gomenyuk (broken rib), Jason Silverthorn (doubt; broken jaw)
Edinburgh: Doug Christiansen (broken patella), Kyle Horne (doubt; concussion), Martin Cingel (lower body)
Coventry: Full Strength
Predictions
Stingrays 3-4 Edinburgh
Coventry 4-2 Stingrays
